New 25 Year Old Chicago Investor Looking to Connect and House Hack a Multifamily

[Luc Langlois]

Hi everyone. My name is Luc, and I'm a 25-year-old finance professional living in Chicago. I recently received a preapproval from my lender and am looking to house hack a multifamily in the Chicagoland area. Given I'm not from here, I'd love to hear everyone's input on the best locations for optimizing this strategy. Ideally, I'd like to have to pay as little out of pocket as possible, which was the case for my first house hack on the East Coast, but in doing a cursory analysis, it seems that current cash flows make this difficult. I recognize this is a function of the current interest rate environment but suspect certain areas are more conducive to this than others. 

Additionally, I'm looking to connect with other investors to continue expanding my network. 

[Jonathan Klemm]

Hey @Luc Langlois - Welcome to BiggerPockets and more specifically the Chicago real estate community.

You're already doing all the right things....educating, networking, and getting ready to take action.  Who are you using as your lender?

In my opinion, I wouldn't worry as much about cash flow and just make sure your PITI (principal interest tax & insurance) less rental income is less than you would pay for rent in that particular area. Also, make sure you'll at least be positive cash flow when you move out even if it's minimal. When you are getting started everything is harder, but the quicker you get started the easier everything gets.

Is there a specific area of the city you are thinking about house hacking in? Where are you living currently? My biggest piece of advice is to narrow the focus as much as possible...it's way easier to find what you are looking for. Happy to connect with you and share my experience if that would help.

FOR SURE you need to be at our Chicago Holiday Christmas party for real estate investors and industry professionals...here is the link:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/1153680-chic...